Rose Garden Cafe: Sheffield campaigner approved to run popular Graves Park venue

Julie Collins has been granted a tenancy at will for the Rose Garden Cafe in Graves Park, which she has previously run on behalf of catering company BrewKitchen, who are stepping back.

Ms Collins was in charge when the cafe was closed at 15 minutes’ notice in July 2022 by Sheffield City Council because of safety concerns about the building’s structure. She was prominent in the Save the Rose Garden Cafe Campaign that forced the council to decide in October 2023 to rule out its possible demolition.

The work to secure the future of the building and raise the money to restore it is being spearheaded by the Rose Garden Cafe Partnership. It brings together the council with interested parties from the community, including the campaign and the Friends of Graves Park.

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Ms Collins, who also has a lease to run the Norfolk Heritage Park cafe, is a member of the partnership.

An extraordinary meeting of Sheffield City Council’s charity trustee sub-committee today (March 21) agreed to grant Ms Collins a tenancy at will, which can be ended by either party at any time.

BrewKitchen told the council in February that it is ending its tenancy at will for the cafe. The building has extensive supports in place and is only partly open, running mainly as a takeaway.

Nathan Rodgers, council head of facilities management, said: “The operator is fully aware of the site and understands the running of the cafe which will hopefully lead to a seamless transfer. It will replicate previous arrangements.”

The tenancy at will is a temporary arrangement that is untended to run until the partnership has finished its work. Once the building has been fully restored, the contract to run the cafe on behalf of the council will go out to competitive tender, sub-committee members were told.

Coun Fran Belbin said: “It sounds like a very sensible proposal.” She asked if there was any potential conflict of interest for a partnership member running the venue and was told no.